The prior art is replete with structures relating to perineal protective devices including such items as garment shields, drip containment or dribble cups, sanitary napkins, diapers, incontinent pads and the like. Such devices range from very thin material for protecting against garment stains which might otherwise result from small amounts of involuntary fluid discharge, to pads having sufficient capacity to absorb the full flow of menstrual fluid discharge, to still heavier pads for infant diapering and for collecting, absorbing and retaining the entire discharge of adult incontinence.
Various shapes have been devised in an attempt to obtain good body conformance, leakage prevention, and comfort. While many are designed for re-use and are made from launderable fabrics, the most recent developments have been directed to disposable materials including non-woven webs, thin plastic films, and thick pads of absorbent fibers, in particular air-formed pads of wood cellulose fibers. A major difficulty with most of the disposable materials is that they do not have the drapability of more permanent cloth-like material and therefore will not conform well to the body, especially when made thick enough to provide the absorbent capacity needed for catamenial and diapering uses.
Various attempts have been made to obtain conformity by selecting particular fold geometries. While many of these obtain a good fit when first applied, they do not have the ability to move with changing body configurations. As a result, the material located between theh thighs is often crushed by leg pressure soon after application, and thereby loses it initial conformance, resulting in gaps between the protective device and the body, or causing discomfort because of rubbing and/or chafing contact between the device and the body.
The invention disclosed herein is directed to a perineal protective device made from flexible sheet material which when folded on a set of pre-established lines assumes a self-adjusting, body-conforming shape, achieving improved comfort and containment characteristics while being well-suited for all size devices ranging from the above-mentioned relatively thin garment protectors to absorbent pads which handle full-discharge incontinents.